News 76ers Team Notes

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Sixers fall into early tryptophan coma, pummeled by Magic

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 7
Andre Drummond – 2
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr – 1
Trendon Watford – 1

---

At least we didn’t have to worry about Tyrese Maxey playing another 40-plus minutes (although even 32 minutes was far too many in this one). That’s about the only positive takeaway from Philadelphia’s 144-103 nationally-televised loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

With the Sixers missing Joel Embiid, Paul George, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Adem Bona (and also appearing to lose Trendon Watford during the game due to injury), they fell behind Orlando by 26 points at halftime, and 38 points entering the fourth quarter, which set the stage for benches to empty across the entirety of the final period. The Magic kept pouring it on in search of smashing The Cup point differential tiebreaker.

Unlike what has been a dramatic and exciting start to the 2025-26 regular season for the now 9-8 Sixers, it was a sad reminder of how things had been so often last season when it was “Maxey and…who exactly?” and things fell apart completely. Not much to go with here for Bell Ringer, but let’s have it.

Jared McCain: 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 0 turnovers

If nothing else, at least second-year guard Jared McCain is getting back into the swing of things on the offensive end. Coming back from both meniscus and thumb surgeries, McCain looked like a shell of his former self to start the season, going scoreless in four straight limited appearances to begin the campaign. However, Tuesday night marked his second straight game with 15 points, as he hit a couple threes as part of an overall 6-of-13 evening from the field. Both triples came in the first quarter when the outcome of the game was actually still in contention, and it’s good to see him finding the range again and making some plays with the ball in his hands.

All smiles after this triple in transition for Jared McCain pic.twitter.com/QE53d2KVHl

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 26, 2025

Eric Gordon: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover

Unlike pseudo-assistant coach Kyle Lowry (who didn’t even get into the game with the Sixers losing by 40-plus points), I’m of the opinion that there’s still a little bit of juice left in the lemon to squeeze out from Eric Gordon. The 36-year-old veteran can still nail shots from a few feet behind the arc, as we saw in his perfect shooting performance against the Magic (4-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from three). There was a brief period last season when both he and Maxey were healthy, and you could see how much his shooting gravity opened things up for Tyrese. I think there’s still a little bit left (like, a very small dose) the Sixers could use in that department this season, especially on nights like Tuesday when they’re missing some perimeter options, even if everyone was making the “Gordon cuts the Magic lead to 37 points” jokes after this one.

The Open 15th Roster Spot: $$$ saved

It was a great night for the Sixers’ open 15th roster spot, who despite not taking the floor, managed to save ownership money by virtue of not counting against the salary cap, with potential luxury tax savings later on. While the team’s on-court product was a rare dud this season against the Magic, we can always take solace in knowing the organization is making thrifty decisions on the margins to save ownership some dough.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...-into-early-tryptophan-coma-pummeled-by-magic

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers get steamrolled by Magic, crushing what little NBA Cups hopes were left

Good lord, they need to flush this one as quickly as fans will.

The Sixers turned in their worst performance of the year, falling to the Orlando Magic 1444-103 in an effort that looked like it belonged to the 2024-25 squad.

Tyrese Maxey once again led the Sixers in scoring, though this time it felt like by default. He went for 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting as well as four rebounds and an assist. Easily the best news of the night was Jared McCain building on a good performance, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Anthony Black led all scorers with 31.

Despite being originally listed as questionable, Joel Embiid missed his eighth straight game with a knee injury. Paul George was also a late scratch with an ankle sprain. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Adem Bona remained out. Orlando was most notably without Paolo Banchero, who suffered a groin injury last week.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter​

• It was a slow start both ways — the Sixers missed five of their first six shots to start the night with a few turnovers mixed in. They were able to make up for that by getting to the line a couple of times, as well as Orlando starting similarly as slow. The first possession the Sixers moved the ball they were able to swing to an open McCain, who buried a three upon immediately checking into the game.

Good ball movement leads to a Jared McCain triple! pic.twitter.com/AJwp5o2e5q

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 26, 2025

• This was a tough matchup height-wise for the Sixers, even if they weren’t shorthanded, but they weren’t overwhelmed by it early. Andre Drummond won his early box-outs, grabbing five rebounds in the quarter and blocking two shots on the other end as well.
• Drummond’s rebounding looked more like a necessity when he subbed out of the game as the Sixers immediately surrounded a couple offensive rebounds to Goga Bitadze. They didn’t meet that resistance on the other end though — both Maxey and Justin Edwards were able to get into the paint with relative ease. They shook off that slow start to shoot 57.9% in the quarter, Orlando bounced back just as quickly though to have the game tied up at 35 after one.

Second Quarter​

• It was a sound defensive start for the Sixers, but that slipped away very quickly. They played bigger personnel to start the second, but still got beat in the paint every time down the floor. After surrendering a few layups the Magic’s drive-and-kick game was opened up for easier three-pointers. They lost a handle on Black altogether, who scored 20 in the second. Despite how hot he was, it took the Sixers multiple possessions to stop sagging off of him on the three-point line.
• Things only got worse for the Sixers as they struggled to contain Black. It wasn’t just that they were struggling to stop one player, Desmond Bane also started to get whatever he wanted to off the dribble. The Sixers helped them out as well by turning it over eight times in the second. To make matters worse, Trendon Watford suffered a non-contact injury. He collapsed and was favoring his groin area after a drive, immediately checking out of the game and heading to the locker room. He was ruled out at halftime with a left adductor strain.
• The only positive that came from this quarter was McCain looking more like himself, especially getting shots inside the arc off the dribble. He finished with 13 points in the half. Drummond was seemingly able to get into the head of Jalen Suggs, getting him ejected after picking up a double technical with Wendell Carter Jr. That hardly slowed down the Magic at all though. Fittingly, they capped off the half with a lob to Black, giving them a 26-point lead at the half.

jmac to the hp. pic.twitter.com/VcKPowLVZR

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 26, 2025

Third Quarter​

• Nothing quite sums up the post-first quarter flow of this game better than Quentin Grimes getting himself a wide open reverse layup and smoking it. The Magic only continued to pick up where they left off, despite Drummond burying a corner three at the start of it.
• It is easy, especially in a season as long as 82 games, to recognize when you don’t have it in a certain night. That being said, it’s insane how much more intensity the Magic came out of the half with than the Sixers. The Magic continued to attack every ball on every possession as if they were the team in desperate need of a miraculous comeback.
• This game got out of hand so quickly that Johni Broome appearing as early as the third held no significance whatsoever. He scored his first points of the night finishing off a dump-pass from Jabari Walker, but his first three-point attempt of the quarter was way off and he missed a one-handed push shot he had to get up with the shot-clock winding down. The Magic led by 38 points after three but never fear, Maxey had still logged nearly 32 minutes — mercifully, he was done for the night.

Fourth Quarter​

• OK, it’s time to address the real concerns with this team. They have yet to make a significant playoff run, their two highest paid players hardly ever play, they are largely reliant on whatever Maxey is able to give them, yada yada yada. The real problem is this team cannot get up for the NBA Cup. Tonight’s loss drops them to 4-6 in Cup play. They’ve yet to sniff the knockout round. When will the real problems get addressed?
• How cute was the photo montage of Maxey and his dog and the dogshow? This has been a rough week for the Sixers, but at least they’ve given us some good dog content.

Jared McCain is sharing the podium with Andre Drummond and Bob Marley. He feels this was “definitely” the best he’s felt in terms of mobility during the season and that he’s felt better with each game. Felt especially good about his burst/first step. pic.twitter.com/bJRFcWCyHu

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 23, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...-maxey-trendon-watford-injury-dominick-barlow

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Tyrese Maxey’s minutes continue to be a problem

My apologies to the sanctity of the NBA Cup, but watching the Sixers trot out Tyrese Maxey for 30-plus minutes in a 41-point loss on Tuesday evening is not sitting well with me. The Sixers were down their four non-Maxey starters against Orlando and this bad boy was over at halftime. Despite it all, there was Maxey in the second half continuously trying to carry the entire roster on his back, as he’s done successfully throughout this young season.

This is nothing new this season. It’s become the norm. It needs to change.

Maxey is leading the league in total minutes played and minutes per game, almost at 40 minutes per night. Nick Nurse and the Sixers are going to run this dude into the ground early in a season where winning a championship is completely off the table.

This isn’t to say that Maxey should be shut down or switched to load management mode given the overall state of the team. I’d be wholly against that. I love that Maxey can be a reliable player nearly every night to entertain fans from the comfort of their couches or at the arena in South Philadelphia. In an era where Joel Embiid’s health status felt like it determined whether the Sixers would win or lose before tipoff even happened, it’s refreshing to see a point guard primed to make his first All-NBA appearance this season be The Guy the city can latch onto come gameday. What worries me is that his current usage is going to prevent that from regularly being the case the season or, frighteningly, beyond.

The Sixers’ roster construction has been a major problem and contributes heavily to this. Embiid and Paul George are making over $100 million combined this season and are rarely in the lineup. The team’s resources are poured into two name-brand players who have histories as elite scorers. When their spots are filled by cheap bench players who could never sniff their peak scoring touch, Maxey is playing with worse talent around him and necessitating him to essentially do everything for the Sixers’ offense.

The guard depth and back end of the roster are no help to Maxey in their own right.

37-year-old Eric Gordon has played 44 minutes total this season. 39-year-old Kyle Lowry has played three. Those are just complete wastes of roster spots when the team is burning out their brightest star on a nightly basis.

This is a front office issue as much as it is a coaching issue!

I want a full season of Maxey leading the Sixers on a path to compelling basketball. I want him leading a young Sixers core deep into a first-round series against a clear-cut better playoff opponent, willing them to the possibility of advancing come April. What I don’t want is it to be January and we’re all receiving a horrific push notification on our phones about a Maxey injury due to him being overworked.

Sixers, please, let Maxey loose and help him find his way to superstardom, but do it smartly.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76ers-analysis/81562/tyrese-maxeys-minutes-continue-to-be-a-problem

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

It’s beginning to look like last season for the Sixers

The Sixers got off to a promising 5-1 start this season, but they’ve come crashing back to earth over the past few weeks. The bottom fell out Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic, as their injury-depleted husk of a roster got annihilated, 144-103, in by far the worst loss of the season.

After the game, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters that the Sixers “didn’t play well enough or hard enough or get back enough.” What was left unsaid: They were woefully undermanned, which has this starting to feel just like last season all over again.

Nick Nurse was asked if he thought the fans left the game feeling like the team worked hard tonight:

— Austin Krell (@austinkrell.bsky.social) 2025-11-26T04:02:58.031Z

Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (ankle) both missed Tuesday’s loss, as did VJ Edgecombe (calf), Adem Bona (ankle) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee). George was initially listed as probable before getting downgraded to out, which raises questions about what exactly is going on with him health-wise.

“[George] reported soreness in the ankle after the game the other night,” Nurse told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game. “Has not been in anything since then, and we’re just trying to keep following up on that and seeing where he is.” Nurse added that the Sixers are “in the process of checking to see what exactly is wrong and what the extent of it is.” Nothing to see here, move along!

Meanwhile, Nurse said Embiid practiced fully Monday and participated in at least part of shootaround on Tuesday, but “he’s just not quite there.” He was “trending toward” playing, which is why the Sixers originally listed him as questionable, but they decided to play it safe with him. It’s still unclear what’s causing his right knee soreness, but nothing to see here, move along!

Edgecombe has missed the past two games with a calf strain after averaging 37.3 minutes across his first 15 appearances. Nurse said it’s a “fair assumption” that the Sixers are being cautious with him because of the Achilles tears that both Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton suffered last season while trying to play through calf injuries. He did add there’s “nothing on the imaging, and it’s a calf strain, and he’s also improving as well,” although it’s unclear when to expect him back on the floor.

The Sixers have at least been transparent about Oubre, who suffered a sprained LCL in his left knee and is set to be re-evaluated next week, and Bona, who has missed the past five games with a right ankle sprain. Neither of those figure to be long-term issues, but their absences are compounding the strain being placed on the rest of the roster with Embiid and George sidelined.

Tyrese Maxey is currently leading the league in both minutes per game (39.9) and miles run per game (2.8). With stars across the NBA going down left and right with soft-tissue injuries—which Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr at least partially attributes to the increased pace of the game—the Sixers are playing with fire by overtaxing Maxey to this extent early on. He had a similar workload early last season before suffering a hamstring injury that sidelined him two weeks, which would effectively be a death knell for this iteration of the team.

The Sixers might need to lean even further on whatever depth they still have upright, as Trendon Watford suffered a non-contact injury against the Magic on Tuesday. He was later ruled out for the game with a left adductor strain. The Sixers revealed Wednesday that he’ll be out for at least the next two weeks. Justin Edwards also got banged up against Orlando, although he did later return to the game.

Perhaps some combination of Embiid, George, Oubre, Edgecombe and Bona will return soon and this concern-trolling will all be much ado about nothing. But even if Embiid and George are both back on Friday, their inconsistent appearances early in the year raise questions about how long either of them will stay on the floor before missing more time. Their absences have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster, particularly with a few other rotation players nursing injuries.

As LB’s Erin Grugan noted Wednesday, this is the downside of devoting two roster spots to Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry, neither of whom appear capable of scaling up into larger roles now that they’re in the twilight of their NBA careers. As is tradition under Daryl Morey, the Sixers also left their 15th roster spot open heading into the year to give themselves more in-season optionality. That will make it easier for them to convert Dominick Barlow or Jabari Walker from a two-way deal to a standard contract, but it also leaves them down one ambulatory body who could help steal a few minutes of rest for another rotation player.

If nothing else, at least we’ll always have the first few weeks of this season.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.

Follow Bryan on Bluesky.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...nning-to-look-like-last-season-for-the-sixers

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

The Sixers have a major roster construction problem (again)

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Well, it’s Groundhog Day again. Or, at least, it certainly feels like it.

The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their worst defeat of the early season on Tuesday night in front of a home crowd, falling 144-103 to the Orlando Magic in an NBA Cup game. Honestly, the score makes it sound somehow closer than it actually was. It was just a massacre — a morally debilitating one, at that.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (right knee), Paul George (ankle), VJ Edgecombe (calf soreness), Adem Bona (ankle), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee). They lost Trendon Watford to a left adductor strain that forced him to exit the contest in the second period.

It was ugly early and somehow only got uglier as the night went on. It was just one game, yes, but it was symptomatic of larger issues for the Sixers. With full quarters worth of slaughter to have to sit and watch, it was impossible to not ponder what got the team to this point. If you ask me, a large part of the problem is the construction of the roster itself — a familiar issue for the Sixers organization and Daryl Morey.

Now, we have to be realistic: in defense of the Sixers, there is probably not a team in the league that is prepared to play well or very efficiently with six rotation players unavailable. Having that many injuries hit at once is plainly unlucky, and not being ready to excel under those circumstances is totally fair.

However, I’d be willing to argue there are teams at least a bit more prepared than the Sixers are for when crap hits the fan — something this organization should be planning ahead for at this point.

The NBA allows teams 15 standard roster spots and three two-way slots. Two-way slots are occupied by players with four or fewer years of experience to split their time between the NBA and G League. They are limited to participating in a maximum of 50 NBA contests under such contracts. Let’s keep that in mind as we go through this.

The Sixers have two players, Joel Embiid and Paul George, on massive contracts with the basic knowledge that they will not be playing every game this season. In the case of Embiid, it would be considered pretty damn optimistic to expect for him to even play half of the games. Because of those contracts, though, there’s really nothing that could be done here, so let’s put them aside for now.

Kyle Lowry, now just four months removed from his 40th birthday, was widely assumed to be taking on more of a player-coach role when he was signed to come back to Philadelphia for his 20th season in the NBA. For the veteran leadership and coaching for the younger guys on the squad alone, his presence is certainly not a negative by any means.

I think most, however, might have assumed there would be at least a little bit of the “player” part of player-coach too! In Tuesday night’s slaughtering of the Sixers, Lowry never touched the floor. Down 40 points with Philadelphia down to it’s last few healthy legs, Lowry was never subbed in. Do I think Lowry playing would have at all changed the outcome to the game? No. Let me be very clear on that. However, I think it was the exact situation you would expect to see the veteran sub in and play a few minutes just to get the team to the final buzzer. Him not even taking the floor under those circumstances says to me that Lowry will not be playing really at all.

Another standard roster spot is occupied by Eric Gordon, another league veteran that is approaching his 37th birthday in December. Gordon has been used extremely sparsely so far and with widely varying results, mostly in the negative.

So, factoring in Lowry and Gordon leaves the Sixers with just 13 standard spots to field a sustainable team. Two of those spots are occupied by the unreliable availability of Embiid and George, which we touched on earlier. Down to 11 spots.

The Sixers also currently have an open roster spot. Yes, they have just 14 of 15 filled. Why would they do that, you might ask? Well, not filling that final roster spot means one less player contract hitting the cap, saving the team money and ultimately making it easier to duck the luxury tax at the trade deadline, something they also did last season. The organization could try to argue that leaving that spot open is in the interest of flexibility to eventually convert the two-way contract of Dominick Barlow or Jabari Walker to a standard one without having to make a corresponding cut somewhere. I would personally be a bit skeptical of that explanation, though, due in part to the Sixers making the effort to dodge the luxury tax last season and in part because I’d argue it’s undeniable that the worth of having someone available to play in that spot now would be worth more than any perceived future flexibility.

Regardless, the spot remains unfilled as of now… so we’re down to 10 spots — just two-thirds of the standard roster spots left to put a team on the floor with some consistency in what we all know is a long 82-game season. Is there any wonder why, prior to Oubre suffering his knee injury, the Sixers had three players in the top four for average minutes per night in the league? Tyrese Maxey (39.9 minutes/game) and VJ Edgecombe (37.3) are still first and second, respectively, in the Association in such category.

This is only going to compound to make the situation even worse. When you hamstring yourself to having just two-thirds of a roster worth of players to depend on to be available every night, you are going to have those guys playing a lot of minutes. The more minutes they play, the more likely they themselves will fall victim to issues that will affect their availability, hamstringing the team even further. It all builds on itself into the perfect (shit)storm.

This organization cannot completely blame bad luck or plead ignorance like they couldn’t have seen this coming. Not after last year. My personal beliefs going into this season for the Sixers organization were that they weren’t going to be necessarily contenders in any serious way, but instead truly needed to use the year to find a way to play sustainable basketball. It wasn’t likely going to always be stellar or title-contending ball, but it had to start to become sustainable basketball that could put up some resistance and resilience, even in the face of bad luck. You know, the opposite of last season.

Tuesday night felt like… well, last season. It was nearly impossible to deny that sick feeling of “damn, here we really go again.”

With this roster construction, though, maybe it’s what we should have expected all along.

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...aryl-morey-nick-nurse-joel-embiid-paul-george

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers look to bounce back against Brooklyn Nets on the road

The Sixers are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Orlando Magic, getting blown out by 41 points on their own floor. The good news is that they now face arguably the worst team in the NBA this season, the Brooklyn Nets, which should give them a golden opportunity to get back in the win column and move past an absolute stinker. What could go wrong?

So, are the Nets really as bad as their 3-14 record suggests? In short, yes. Brooklyn brought in five first-round picks from the most recent draft, most of them late in the round. As you’d expect, they’re raw and still developing, and together they make up about a third of the roster. Beyond that group, the Nets don’t have much in the way of win-now talent.

Adding to those struggles, Michael Porter Jr. will be out for this matchup. Acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets, he’s been the lone bright spot in what’s shaping up to be a full rebuild. Through 16 games he’s posting career numbers across the board, averaging 24.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3 assists on 48.3 percent shooting from the field and 36.2 percent from three. He’s taking more shots than ever without a significant drop in efficiency. The other notable contributor is Nic Claxton— best known to Sixers fans as the draft pick involved in the Trevor Booker deal — who is coming off his first career triple-double.

Claxton is averaging 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 56 percent from the field. Depending on who starts and who’s available, his speed and mobility could give the Sixers’ centers real problems.

Availability is once again a major talking point for the Sixers, and this matchup is no exception. Philadelphia has ruled out Joel Embiid (injury management), VJ Edgecombe (injury management), Kelly Oubre (knee sprain), and Trendon Watford (adductor strain). Paul George is questionable with an ankle sprain, while Adem Bona is expected to return and is listed as probable.

For Brooklyn, in addition to Porter, Haywood Highsmith and Cam Thomas are out. Ben Saraf is questionable with an ankle sprain.

There wasn’t much positive to take from the Sixers’ last game, aside from Jared McCain. He’s scored 15 points in each of the team’s last two outings and is starting to look more like the player we saw last season. He’ll try to keep that momentum going off the bench.

Beyond that, the goal for this game is straightforward: win convincingly and wash out the taste of the previous performance.

For those tracking offensive and defensive rankings, the Sixers’ offense has slipped to 15th in the league, while their defense sits at 19th. The Nets, meanwhile, have the sixth-worst offense and the league’s worst defense, ranking dead last at 30th.

It’s also worth noting that this is almost certainly the Sixers’ final NBA Cup game. On the bright side, the Nets’ alternate court is one of the best in the league, thanks to its mostly gray-black color scheme, so at least your eyes won’t suffer while watching.

As for the Sixers’ cup hopes, they’re essentially finished. They’re sitting at 0–3 with a brutal point differential of –51. Only Utah has been worse, posting a staggering –94.

The NBA Cup implications don’t really matter tonight, but the game itself does. The Sixers have been handed a perfect setup for a bounce-back performance: multiple days of rest and a matchup with one of the league’s worst teams. That should add up to a much-needed win, regardless of who’s in or out of the lineup. Now we’ll see if they can actually get things back on track.

Game Details

When: Tuesday, November 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...bounce-back-against-brooklyn-nets-on-the-road

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers Bell Ringer: Philadelphia halts two-game slide with win over Nets

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer Standings:
Tyrese Maxey – 7
Andre Drummond – 2
VJ Edgecombe – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th Roster Spot – 1

---

When things are trending in the wrong direction, as they have been lately for the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s a perfect time to come across this year’s edition of the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers never trailed in Friday night’s contest, building a 21-point lead in the second quarter and maintaining a double-digit lead for the majority of the rest of the way in the 115-103 win. The only downside in the victory was yet another injury, with the Sixers losing Andre Drummond to a sprained knee. Let’s focus on the positives for now with Philadelphia staying above .500 and moving to 10-8, and move on to Bell Ringer.

Jared McCain: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals, 0 turnovers

With each passing game, McCain is looking more and more comfortable in his return, this time dropping a season-high 20 points to go along with a career-high five steals. He drained four triples, knocking down a couple spot-ups, doing a nice job relocating into open space, and even hitting a pull-up in transition. Jared looked spry in beating his defender off the dribble, and used quick hands to knock the ball away from opposing ballhandlers from behind. McCain talked about how much the knee brace originally bothered him, and he’s feeling less bothered by the new, smaller sleeve. Going forward, we may have transitioned back wondering if McCain is in enough of a rhythm to be seeing consistent minutes, to seeing him as a true difference maker once again.

Jared McCain hits his 4th triple of the night for his first 20-piece of the season! pic.twitter.com/rrQbwWjJGo

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Tyrese Maxey: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

The game in Brooklyn won’t make a ton of headlines like his dropping 54 points did last week, but Maxey was incredibly impactful in the win, having all eyes of the Nets upon him and facing plenty of traps. He handled the pressure with aplomb, making the right reads and taking care of the ball, as the 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio would attest. Of course, he still got his own points on the board too, leading the team in scoring. Maxey went a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line, and also continued to flash his improved left hand in the open court. It’s crazy that we’ve reached the point with Tyrese where he’s nearing a 20-point triple-double and it’s not even close to one of his most memorable performances of the season.

Tyrese Maxey reads the Nets like a book for the steal and slam pic.twitter.com/YRt7q0RrFp

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Adem Bona: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers

With the Sixers’ depleted frontcourt further decimated by Drummond’s injury, the Sixers needed Bona to step up. When he wasn’t dealing with foul trouble, he played very well, even cashing his first career three-pointer in the closing minutes. Late-game outliers aside, Bona earned his bacon as he usually does, fighting on the offensive glass, finishing through traffic around the rim, and rejecting everything in sight on the defensive end. Adem skied for a block from the weak side to deny a Noah Clowney layup attempt, and stayed in front of a driving Terance Mann to send his shot in the other direction. We’ll see in the coming games whether Bona can keep the fouls to a minimum to ramp up the minutes workload.

Back-to-back-to-back Sixers buckets from Adem Bona! pic.twitter.com/XA17eT7JZ2

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...lphia-halts-two-game-slide-with-win-over-nets

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Shorthanded Sixers get more banged up, but take care of lowly Nets

The injury bug even bites hard in a much-needed win.

The Sixers snapped a two-game skid, taking down the Brooklyn Nets 115-103 Friday night. This also mercifully put an end to the Sixers 2025 Emirates NBA Cup play.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with a modest 22 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor with nine rebounds and seven assists. Jared McCain had his first 20-point game of the season, doing so on 7-of-16 shooting as well.

Paul George returned to shoot 6-of-10 from the floor to go for 14 points, three rebounds and two steals in 21:21 of play. Quentin Grimes had 19 points and nine assists. Egor Demin led all scorers with 23.

Andre Drummond left the game after suffering a knee sprain in the second quarter, adding to an injured list that also includes Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., VJ Edgecombe and Trendon Watford.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter​

• Neither team could buy a jumper to start the night, combining to go 4-of-15 from the field to open things up. It’s funny that Drummond has been the best three-point shooter from the backup center position. His 10 made threes aren’t just a career-best, but they lead the front-court so far (with one obvious availability asterisk).
• That remained the case from outside but both teams started getting to the basket easier. George’s first shift was his longest so far, playing over nine minutes. He got to the basket a couple times himself to start, and the three he buried just before subbing out was the team’s second of the night.

PG for 3! pic.twitter.com/2RU7HI1EwB

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• Also making his return was Adem Bona after missing the last five with an ankle sprain. He didn’t get up to much early, save for some ball-pressure on Day’ron Sharpe that led to a Maxey pick-six. Jared McCain buried a corner three on a two-for-one opportunity, but his no-dip attempt the next time down the floor didn’t fall, so the Sixers had to settle for an eight-point lead after one.

Second Quarter​

• If there’s a team to do it against, it’s probably this one. Kyle Lowry got his first real minutes of the season, out there to start the quarter. There wasn’t much K-Lo needed to do with George taking care of things on both ends of the floor. The deflections he’s able to cause are a big help when he’s available, and his jumper continued to fall for him early.
• Bona was able to finish up a good shift himself despite picking up two unnecessary fouls. He scored six quick points finishing off dump offs and putbacks. As soon he was back though the front court took another blow. Drummond went down with an injury. It wasn’t quite clear on the replays if he hyperextended his knee or just banged it running into Lowry. He was in a lot of pain though and needed help going back to the locker room and was ruled out at halftime.

Back-to-back-to-back Sixers buckets from Adem Bona! pic.twitter.com/XA17eT7JZ2

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• The scramble to replace Drummond became even more immediate when Bona picked up his third foul. Nick Nurse was already breaking out everything, giving Johni Broome a chance along with Jabari Walker. They picked up three fouls quickly as well, as had Dominick Barlow. The Sixers’ inability to stop fouling inside became Brooklyn’s only source of offens e— they shot 15 free throws in the quarter after taking one in the first. They trailed by as many points though, giving the Sixers a comfortable lead at the half.

Third Quarter​

• That issue persisted to start the second half with Barlow quickly picking up his fourth as well. The same nearly happened for Bona, but Nurse was able to get that one overturned with a challenge. It was a lingering problem, but one that wasn’t harming the Sixers’ lead. Maxey had a quick burst after not having to do nearly as much in the first half.

Tyrese Maxey hits from long range here early in the second half.

Sixers holding a comfortable (for now) lead over Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/lC5eOggGdb

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

• That changed in the third, as nearly seven minutes went by without a Sixer not named Maxey scoring. The Nets slowly and briefly were able to cut the lead to single digits. Grimes had looked fairly out of control for most of the night, but he strung together some solid drives that stopped the bleeding.
• To the point about Lowry earlier, it did not look like you could get away with playing Broome against this team. Even here he just looked too slow and small to get anything done. The front court situation remained precarious as Walker picked up his fourth and fifth fouls. The Nets also joined what is now a growing list of teams to bury heaves against them at the end of quarters as well. This time, it only cut the Sixers’ lead to 12.

Fourth Quarter​

• Something else that prevented the Sixers from pulling away was that they were just as cold from deep as Brooklyn. That Maxey three from the corner early in the third was the only three of their first nine attempts to fall in the second half.
• That helped Brooklyn hang around longer than anyone would have liked. Despite McCain chipping in the first time since early in the second, the Nets were again able to get the lead down to single digits. It was McCain though who made that brief when he hit the Sixers’ first three of the quarter.
• An open three by McCain was also hit coming right out of the immediate timeout. Shortly after, Bona hit his first three-pointer of his career. It was still much needed after Demin was single-handedly trying to give the Nets a miraculous comeback. Demin, like many, had a slow start but really got going once he saw a three go down.

Jared McCain hits his 4th triple of the night for his first 20-piece of the season! pic.twitter.com/rrQbwWjJGo

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) November 29, 2025

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76er...aul-george-jared-mccain-andre-drummond-injury

 

[Philadelphia 76ers]

Sixers-Nets: Game Discussion Thread

Game Details​

When: Friday, November 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

Source: https://www.libertyballers.com/76ers-discussion-threads/81604/sixers-nets-game-discussion-thread-nba